1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiments relate generally to laser systems and more particularly to wavelength beam combining systems and methods.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wavelength beam combining (WBC) is a method for scaling the output power and brightness from diode bars and stacks.
WBC methods have been developed to combine beams along the slow dimension of each emitter as well as the fast dimension of each emitter. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,192,062, 6,208,679 and 2010/0110556 A1. However, the traditional methods described therein do not allow for greater flexibility in scaling the overall footprint of the system and flexibility in addressing large aperture optic concerns while scaling the output power and brightness to produce kilowatts, tens and hundreds of kilowatts, and even megawatts of power. Improved methods and systems to increased spectral brightness and output power methods to meet various industrial, scientific and defense applications are needed.
The following application seeks to solve the problems stated.